Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@ericnormand
Last active July 3, 2025 17:17
Show Gist options
  • Select an option

  • Save ericnormand/f0df145ef62eacb0d7becd1b6d5e3d28 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Select an option

Save ericnormand/f0df145ef62eacb0d7becd1b6d5e3d28 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
419 PurleyFunctional.tv Newsletter

String difference

You are given two strings, a and b. We consider each letter to be unique, meaning duplicates are significant. Write a function that returns the count of letters in b which do not occur in a.

Examples

(strdiff "abc" "") ;=> {} ;; no characters in b don't occur in a
(strdiff "abc" "abc") ;=> {} ;; ditto
(strdiff "" "abc") ;=> {\a 1 \b 1 \c 1}
(strdiff "axx" "abcc") ;=> {\b 1 \c 2}
(strdiff "xxxx" "xxxxxx") ;=> {\x 2} ;; two x's in b that don't occur in a

Thanks to this site for the challenge idea where it is considered Hard in Python. The problem has been modified from the original.

Please submit your solutions as comments on this gist.

To subscribe: https://purelyfunctional.tv/newsletter/

@sztamas

sztamas commented Mar 23, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown

@jaihindhreddy might worth mentioning that you have to remove negatives as well (not just zeros) or characters that have more occurrences in a than b will end up in the final map. Ex.

  (strdiff "xxx" "x") ;; => {\x -2}

@dkmarley

dkmarley commented Mar 23, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown
(defn strdiff [a b]
  (->> (distinct b)
       (select-keys (frequencies a))
       (merge-with - (frequencies b))
       (reduce-kv (fn [m k v] (if (pos? v) (assoc m k v) m)) {})))

@miner

miner commented Mar 23, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown
(defn strdiff [a b]
  (reduce (fn [m c]
            (if-let [n (get m c)]
              (if (= n 1)
                (dissoc m c)
                (assoc m c (dec n)))
              m))
          (frequencies b)
          (seq a)))

;; slightly faster with transients
(defn tstrdiff [a b]
  (persistent!
   (reduce (fn [m c]
             (if-let [n (get m c)]
               (if (= n 1)
                 (dissoc! m c)
                 (assoc! m c (dec n)))
               m))
           (transient (frequencies b))
           (seq a))))

@galuque

galuque commented Mar 23, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Definitely feel like I'm cheating 😛

(require '[clojure.data :as data])

(defn strdiff [s1 s2]
  (let [[_ only-in-s2 _] (data/diff (vec s1)
                                    (vec s2))]
    (->> only-in-s2
         (filter some?)
         frequencies)))

@vpetruchok

Copy link
Copy Markdown
(defn strdiff [a b]
  (let [a-freq (frequencies a)
        b-freq (frequencies b)]
    (reduce-kv (fn [r b-key b-val]
                 (if (not (contains? a-freq b-key))
                   (assoc r b-key b-val)
                   (let [a-val (get a-freq b-key)
                         diff (- b-val a-val)]
                     (if (> diff 0)
                       (assoc r b-key diff)
                       r))))
               {}
               b-freq)))

@vmpj

vmpj commented Mar 26, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown
(defn strdiff [a b]
  (let [fa (frequencies a) 
        fb (frequencies b)]
    (->> (reduce-kv #(update %1 %2 (fnil - 0) %3) fb fa)
         (filter #(> (second %) 0)) 
         (into {}))))

@prairie-guy

prairie-guy commented Apr 2, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown
(use '[clojure.set :only (difference intersection)])

(defn strdiff [a b]                                                                                                                                   
  (let [fa (frequencies a)                                                                                                                            
        fb (frequencies b)                                                                                                                            
        ka (set (keys fa))                                                                                                                            
        kb (set (keys fb))]                                                                                                                           
    (apply array-map 
     (flatten                                                                                                                         
      (append(for [i (intersection ka kb)                                                                                                             
                   :let [n (- (fb i) (fa i))]                                                                                                         
                   :when (> n  0)]                                                                                                                    
               [i n])                                                                                                                                 
             (for [d (difference kb ka)] [d (fb d)]))))))

@prairie-guy

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Basic question: How do I get highlighted code? First time posting . . .

@steffan-westcott

Copy link
Copy Markdown

@prairie-guy To get syntax highlighting, wrap your code between ```clojure and ``` on their own lines. See the Github docs on syntax highlighting for more examples.

@prairie-guy

prairie-guy commented Apr 2, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown

Thanks.

@sim-f

sim-f commented Apr 5, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown
(defn update-freq-map [m k v]
  (if (get m k)
    (update m k #(- % v))
    m))

(defn dissoc-less-one [m]
  (let [less-one-key (->> m
                          (filter (fn [[_ v]] (< v 1)))
                          (map first))]
    (reduce
     (fn [m k] (dissoc m k))
     m
     less-one-key)))

(defn strdiff [a b]
  (let [freq-a (frequencies a)
        freq-b (frequencies b)]
    (->> (reduce-kv
          update-freq-map
          freq-b
          freq-a)
         dissoc-less-one)))

@s3dse

s3dse commented Apr 9, 2021

Copy link
Copy Markdown
(defn strdiff [a b]
  (loop [freq-b (frequencies b)
         acc {}]
    (cond
      (or (= a b) (empty? freq-b)) acc
      (empty? a) freq-b
      :else
      (let [[k vb] (first freq-b)
            va ((frequencies a) k 0)
            diff (- vb va)]
        (if (pos-int? diff)
          (recur (rest freq-b) (assoc acc k diff))
          (recur (rest freq-b) acc))))))

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment